"From Farmhouse to Your House," says the cover of Paradise Farm Organics’ beautiful 96-page black-and-white newsprint catalogue announces. "Now you have our country store to yourself, you can browse in your own good time. When you find what you like, call us." This catalogue has been key, as Paradise Farms Organics, from its beginnings as a small farm, has taken control of its own destiny by directly linking to growing organic markets.

Paradise Farm Organics grows fruits and vegetables for the local farmers market and food co-op. They also buy small grains from local farmers for a line of unique products, which they market through their mail order catalogue and website (www.organic-paradise.com).

Rick Repp

Paradise Farm Organics is the result of a personal quest begun by Mary Jane Butters, company founder, in 1989. Then Director of the Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute in North Idaho, one of the Pacific Northwest's best known environmental organizations, Mary Jane knew that reducing the use of agricultural chemicals in her region would require developing new markets to encourage farmers to make the switch to organic production. Accepting the challenge, she began making an organic dried falafel mix which she marketed to health and environmentally conscious consumers.

"Organic farming is a continuation of my environmental activism," says Mary Jane, "with a more direct approach to the problem of toxic chemicals."

Since incorporation in 1992, the company has grown to include a range of organic foods, including specially prepared and packaged "gourmet backpacking entrees." Their line of vegan and vegetarian entrees has become extremely popular with backpackers who can buy "EcoCuisine" at Recreational Equipment Inc (REI), Eastern Mountain Sports and other stores throughout the US and Canada.

Paradise Farms recently developed a sister product line of premium organic flours, which they process at the Baron flour mill, an historical landmark in Oakesdale, Washington, which they acquired in 1997. They purchase organic grain and process it with one of the only unifine mills in the United States. The mill uses centrifugal force to explode the grain rather than grinding it. This process generates much less heat than traditional milling processes, which results in a much longer shelf-life for the flour.

Rick Repp helps publish the Paradise Farm Organics catalogue. Rick worked eight years as a consultant helping local and international businesses implement inventory management systems before coming to Paradise Farm. He speaks from experience when he says, "Farmers should get off the commodity treadmill and become their own middlemen."

"If you're a small farmer, producing commodities doesn't provide enough volume to compete with the big producers. The buyers continually try to beat you down on price. So the only way that family farms can survive is to replace the middlemen. That's where the margin is. Add value to your farm business: add a process, add a service. Growing organic markets offer a premium to producers who are willing and able to provide a higher quality, higher value product."

"If you want to tap growing organic markets, you need to understand the buyers' purchasing practices. What exactly does the buyer want and expect from the product?" Paradise Farms Organics looks for farmers who are willing to develop and provide a value-added product. They are willing to pay more if the grower is willing to do some of the processing and provide good service to support their product.

For example, Paradise Farms currently purchases basil from a person who charges twice the price of the previous supplier. They willingly pay the premium for a couple of reasons. They can get other products from the same producer, and the basil is of better quality, more consistent and more flavorful, so they may only need half as much.

Mary Jane Butters

"Producers should look at developing a set of guidelines to help them understand the steps and priorities in developing a value-added product and getting into a specialty market. They need to look at quality - consistently clean, nutritious, and good-tasting. They need to provide a service. It is very important to us that a farmer is up front with us and thinks ahead to keep us consistently supplied with inventory. They should get to know what we need and try to keep it in stock for us. They need to add value: do some of the processing for us. For example, we buy lentils cleaned and bagged, but then we have to dehydrate them ourselves. Since we process specialty food items using a smaller amount of many different products, being able to eliminate that one step would save us a lot. And it could be in the hands of a farming family, as the foundation of a value-added business."

"Paradise Farm Organics views the role of the manufacturer as supporting the supplier. Our job is to offer a price that can keep the supplier going. We will pass the extra costs on to the consumer, rather than trying to take it out of the producer. Since organic production generally costs more than conventional, getting the most from the market is the secret to survival. We are able to do that because we are offering a premium value-added product."

"Quality, service, value-added – this is a whole new way of thinking for many farmers, but they have to make the shift from high-volume commodity production to product-oriented marketing if they want to succeed in the organic market."

Rick Repp
Paradise Farm Organics, Inc.
214 N. Main #100
Moscow, ID 83843
Tel: (208) 882-6590
repp8426@uidaho.edu

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